friday ,the 19 "th may

ALAS WE DID NOT SEE THIS

Alarms , set last day"s night did duly ring,and there was a great commotion in our rooms as the elders were up,--(the kids could be shaken out of beds when the sun is sighted)-- stood in balconies,and gazed expectantly at the eastern skies.Why us?.Most people seemed to be thronging their windows, straining to have a dekko.The clocks ticked along,,the skies lightened up,people waited, the east was all red and orange hues,,,,, but of the actual sunrise....sun coming out of the womb of sea....nothing could be seen. Later we even went on to the hotel roof....the view was exiting.... but that was just about it....No sunrise either....when actually sighted he was quite high up in the sky....

Prasanna and Alekhya seemed the most crestfallen...Alekhya was Yasoda"s second daughter,,she was doing her first year at I.I.T. Gowhati and was at home to enjoy summer holidays.Anupama and Alekhya quite amicably split between themselves the task of accompanying us,.....Alekhya who had not seen Rameswaram would come on the first leg of our tour, Anupama who wanted to see kodai would be on the second leg.

To be sure Alekhya who already had been to the cape once, made a very good guide as we observed to our amusement.She neatly bypassed the thirivalluvar statue as "just the same as vivekananda rock and also very windy", then brushed aside gandhi mantapam as"not much to be seen there. just some photos when he was here". We had a suspicion that if we let her have her own way, all that she wanted to do would be lolling at the beach...Infact the entire trip seemed to be a tug between the young and the old..... the kids clamouring for beaches and sightseeing,shopping.........the elders calmly weaning them into temples...We felt like the producers of a masala film,.....trying to cater to all tastes.."something for the men, something for the women, something for the old" It was great fun to see little Jyotsna stopping in the middle of the road with an accusing look on her face..."not another temple?"..:)